Courtney Campbell: Faith or Dogma?
I haven’t had much time to do my blogs lately, so I will try to keep it short and to the point with this one. We often think that faith is reserved for those who are religious, for after all, all we rational people need proof or reasons to believe in something. It is simply nonsensical to believe without seeing. “The most important statement believers and scientists alike start with is: I don’t know.” (Bill Moyers) Now many say that science starts with a hunch but aims towards truth in the successful forming of hypotheses (and then theories) based on the observation of empirical evidence that can predict how matter will behave with incredible precision. Faith however stops at what we don’t know and has no way to uncover that which we don’t know. Science in other words deals with the natural and what we can know about it and faith is the realm of supernatural.
Of what significance is this supernatural if it does not make predictions about the natural? Faith is the push that allows us to move from that which we know that we do not know, to that which we can know just as science starts with that which we do not know to that which we can know. Why is faith necessary to make that move or in other words what is the purpose of faith? It is because the realm that we do not know is the realm of possibilities. Each possibility has benefits and drawbacks that we cannot fully understand the ramifications of (the effects of what we know we do not know and what we don’t know that we don’t know). It is either faith or ignorance that can push us towards action. For the less we know about the dangers, the easier it is to make that leap but the more random our actions are. Faith brings awareness and action together. Faith is the involvement in the process of revealing and concealing (which I have spoken about in previous blogs) which requires engagement, posing questions, and being mindful of how we and the object of our engagement are affected in this process.
An important question to ask then: how is dogma any different than faith? Faith is concerned with the process of moving from that which we know we do not know to that which we know. Dogma is concerned with affirming its own position despite any observations that show the falsity of this position. Faith is open to questioning, dogma refuses to be questioned. It is precisely here that I disagree with Courtney Campbell on the value of absolutism in science or in religion for that matter. For if dogma is silencing the fears of the unknown in holding certain views to be certain despite any observation, then it has forgotten faith altogether. How so? Faith is necessary precisely because it deals with that which we do not know or that which is uncertain. If dogma is affirming that there are no alternatives, no unknowns then there is no need for faith. If faith has no purpose then it is obsolete.
This notion of faith is more important than the observations that we make and than the principles religion holds to be true. It is this notion of faith that allows for dialogue and modifications and constant altering and modifying. This common conception of we can agree to disagree is nothing but a copping out of the question…. How can we reach a common ground? We never agree to disagree unless we are not affected by our disagreements. Most of the times we are, and if we agree to disagree, we in other words, agree that he who can dominate will win. So the next time you say: let’s agree to disagree, think of what is at stake and what will result of agreeing to disagree.
posted by lulwa @ 1:38 PM
4 Comments:
Yes, the statement "agree to disagree" is an odd one and seems to only "work" in a situation where the power balance is perfectly equal. In this (rare or impossible state) there is no consequence of an agreed state of disagreement. Each side simply goes on as before without consequence. But in real life, so to speak, when are there every such equal power relationships?
I wonder about faith and dogma. Does not faith imply the compulsion to believe without questioning (or at least, if one questions, one must still proceed as if the question remains unanswerable). The slope between faith and dogmas is slippery and short, I think and constant vigilence is required to keep them distinct.
I would agre that faith is more like one questions, one must proceed as if the question remains unanswerable, but also for the purpose of knowing an answer.
This might seem contradictory I know, but here are several examples of what I think is faith. I know this person that is so preoccupied with finding the one justification that any action can fall under. He travelled for 100 days through the mid-west thinking that the simplicity of life will bring the clearest answer. He traveled on foot and stayed in people's backyards and when he came back, he said that he is no where closer to finding the answer but the journey had so many clues. I think this is the faith of a contemplator
But when one is faced with decisions, there is nothing but choice, for even not doing is a choice. Here I think it is a proceeding with the most plausible answer and committing to it until it faces a challange. Before this challange this faith is dormant but at the moment where the challange presents itself, one chooses faith or dogma. But since life isn't just grand challanges but rather small decisions that we make on daily basis ... dogma can even show itself in the mindless routines that we perform and faith is when those routines are questioned.
I think the slope between faith and dogma is definately a slippery and short one, and we often choose dogma unwittingly, because one simply cannot question everything all the time and still manage to come up with the time to do anything. But faith keeps the door open, while dogma refuses to. If someone presents a good idea, faith is when one does not necessary keep it in the forefront of thought but acknowleges it as a possibility.
Although the difference in contemplation between dogma and faith is short. It is so apparent in practice for it is the difference between the panick in this should not be happening. and excuse my cliche but faith's perspective that is closer to: the courage to change the things I can, the serenity to accept the things that I cannot and the wisdom to know the difference. It is the constant assessment and questioning of those boundaries that is faith.
I would agre that faith is more like one questions, one must proceed as if the question remains unanswerable, but also for the purpose of knowing an answer.
This might seem contradictory I know, but here are several examples of what I think is faith. I know this person that is so preoccupied with finding the one justification that any action can fall under. He travelled for 100 days through the mid-west thinking that the simplicity of life will bring the clearest answer. He traveled on foot and stayed in people's backyards and when he came back, he said that he is no where closer to finding the answer but the journey had so many clues. I think this is the faith of a contemplator
But when one is faced with decisions, there is nothing but choice, for even not doing is a choice. Here I think it is a proceeding with the most plausible answer and committing to it until it faces a challange. Before this challange this faith is dormant but at the moment where the challange presents itself, one chooses faith or dogma. But since life isn't just grand challanges but rather small decisions that we make on daily basis ... dogma can even show itself in the mindless routines that we perform and faith is when those routines are questioned.
I think the slope between faith and dogma is definately a slippery and short one, and we often choose dogma unwittingly, because one simply cannot question everything all the time and still manage to come up with the time to do anything. But faith keeps the door open, while dogma refuses to. If someone presents a good idea, faith is when one does not necessary keep it in the forefront of thought but acknowleges it as a possibility.
Although the difference in contemplation between dogma and faith is short. It is so apparent in practice for it is the difference between the panick in this should not be happening. and excuse my cliche but faith's perspective that is closer to: the courage to change the things I can, the serenity to accept the things that I cannot and the wisdom to know the difference. It is the constant assessment and questioning of those boundaries that is faith.
I would agre that faith is more like one questions, one must proceed as if the question remains unanswerable, but also for the purpose of knowing an answer.
This might seem contradictory I know, but here are several examples of what I think is faith. I know this person that is so preoccupied with finding the one justification that any action can fall under. He travelled for 100 days through the mid-west thinking that the simplicity of life will bring the clearest answer. He traveled on foot and stayed in people's backyards and when he came back, he said that he is no where closer to finding the answer but the journey had so many clues. I think this is the faith of a contemplator
But when one is faced with decisions, there is nothing but choice, for even not doing is a choice. Here I think it is a proceeding with the most plausible answer and committing to it until it faces a challange. Before this challange this faith is dormant but at the moment where the challange presents itself, one chooses faith or dogma. But since life isn't just grand challanges but rather small decisions that we make on daily basis ... dogma can even show itself in the mindless routines that we perform and faith is when those routines are questioned.
I think the slope between faith and dogma is definately a slippery and short one, and we often choose dogma unwittingly, because one simply cannot question everything all the time and still manage to come up with the time to do anything. But faith keeps the door open, while dogma refuses to. If someone presents a good idea, faith is when one does not necessary keep it in the forefront of thought but acknowleges it as a possibility.
Although the difference in contemplation between dogma and faith is short. Their effects are so apparent. for it is the difference between the panic, resistance and intolerance in this should not be happening. and excuse my cliche but faith's perspective that is closer to: the courage to change the things I can, the serenity to accept the things that I cannot and the wisdom to know the difference. It is the constant assessment and questioning of those boundaries that is faith. The dogma in faith however is very difficult to assess. Our disposition is less difficult.
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